Andre Drummond walked into the United Center on Sunday morning wearing a gleaming smile as he strode the familiar hallway from the team bus to the locker room, passing out hugs along the way.
This time, however, he sought refuge pregame in the visitors’ locker room with his new 76ers teammates. The two-time All-Star spent two seasons cleaning up the glass for the Bulls before signing a two-year deal with the Sixers in free agency this summer.
“Beloved” is how Billy Donovan described his former backup center. Donovan’s point was validated by the fans who sat courtside pregame to cheer as Drummond went through his routine, including an off-the-glass alley-oop from teammate Paul George that concluded his warmups.
It’s easy to understand why Donovan characterized Drummond as beloved. The 6-11 center came in and sacrificed for this team, taking a backseat to the superior Nikola Vucevic. The high-impact player he was off the bench for the Bulls is now Sixers coach Nick Nurse’s to maximize.
“The Andre Drummond experience is worth the price of admission,” Nurse said pregame.
Drummond is currently averaging eight points and 8.3 rebounds playing 20 minutes per game in his return to Philadelphia. He spent a stint with the Sixers in 2021-22 before he was packaged ahead of the trade deadline in the deal that sent Ben Simmons to Brooklyn and brought James Harden to the City of Brotherly Love.
A key to unlocking Drummond’s effectiveness is ensuring he’s finding the joy in the game.
“He’s a great dude,” Nurse said. “The best dude to be around. Goes through some ups and downs. He’s in an up moment right now which is great. You have to kind of get him to enjoy it out there, right? He has a great personality. Sometimes I think the games get tough and not enjoyable. I just keep telling him telling him do your thing man. Snap down every rebound just for the hell of it and see how any you could get in a row.”
Drummond finished with four points and seven rebounds, playing seven minutes in the first quarter. He didn’t see the floor again Sunday afternoon after Joel Embiid got going.
“It’s always good being back in this building,” Drummond said.
**Making sense of the messy start**
Embiid had four games under his belt this season coming into Sunday.
After missing the Sixer’s first nine games — first due to a nagging left knee injury and then a subsequent suspension — Embiid made his 2024-25 debut on Nov. 12. Embiid injured his knee last January but has been dealing with what the team had called “left knee management” all season.
The Sixers are 13th in the East after a dismal start to the season, including two separate five-game losing streaks. Nurse attributes the disarray to the team’s health.
“Most of our team was put together to compliment those guys. With all those guys out, all these other guys had to be thrown into these other roles, which was hard for them to do.”
**Ring collector**
New Sky coach Tyler Marsh has a championship pedigree tied to Nurse.
His first championship came in 2013 while working on Nurse’s Rio Grande Valley Vipers staff. In 2018, when Nurse was promoted to head coach of the Raptors, he brought Marsh aboard. The following year, they won an NBA title.
Marsh has since added two more with the Aces.
“Tyler has more rings than anybody sitting in this room,” Nurse joked on Sunday. “He’s almost got a whole handful. I’m really happy for him. Great person, doing everything right.”